News and Events - Monica Macansantos

Monica Macansantos

Review of Gregory Spatz's What Could Be Saved (Tupelo Press, 2019) in Colorado Review

4/7/2022

I had the pleasure of reviewing Gregory Spatz's What Could Be Saved (Tupelo, 2019), a collection of "bookmatched" novellas and stories about the world of violin makers and dealers, for Colorado Review. Below is an excerpt:

"What Could Be Saved succeeds in demonstrating how art can transform its makers by guiding them towards a reexamination of the self. In the case of the invisible hands who create these violins, the moments of transcendence they facilitate are made possible by their return to the physical and real in their craft. Like meditation, art is rooted in the world we inhabit, enabling us to reach seemingly impossible heights by opening our eyes to what has been with us all along."

Read the rest of the review here.

Novel Excerpt, "Appearances", in The Bookends Review

3/21/2022

I'm happy to share that the eighth published excerpt of my novel, People We Trust, is now live on The Bookends Review. Entitled "Appearances", this chapter depicts a pregnant leftist guerrilla during the Marcos years as she returns to her hometown to give birth, and learns to disguise her true identity as a guerrilla in this new world that she inhabits. Many thanks to Jordan Blum for accepting the piece! You can read it here.

Two Poems Anthologized in A Fire To Light Our Tongues: Texas Writers on Spirituality (Texas Christian University Press, 2022)

2/21/2022

I have two poems entitled "Homing In" and "Christmas House, Vallejo, California" in A Fire To Light Our Tongues, an anthology of spiritual writing by Texas writers (what an honor to be called one!) forthcoming from Texas Christian University Press in May 2022. I'd like to thank the late Donna Walker-Nixon for reaching out to me to solicit work for this volume (and for generously considering me a Texas writer, even if I left the state in 2013), as well as Dr. Elizabeth Joan Dell of Baylor University for selecting my work for publication. Below is a description of this wonderful anthology:

A Fire to Light Our Tongues: Texas Writers on Spirituality brings together the works of writers in Texas. The title is taken, with permission, from Naomi Shihab Nye’s introduction to Salting the Ocean: 100 Poems by Young Poets, where she states the role of poetry serves as “a fire to light our tongues.” This view describes the role that creative writers, encountering the challenges of this past decade, face as they grapple with shifting views of spirituality. While the project started before COVID-19, given the current worldwide pandemic, a book of creative work responding to writers’ spirituality could not be more timely. This anthology offers readers creative works by Texas writers as they wrestle with evolving systems of belief or nonbelief.

Copies of the anthology can be pre-ordered from Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Blackwell's in the UK. I would also like to thank Willow (Canada) where these two poems initially saw print in 2018.

Interview With Daphne Palasi Andreades, Author of Brown Girls (Random House, 2022) in The Masters Review

1/7/2022

My first publication of the year is an interview with Daphne Palasi Andreades, whose debut novel, Brown Girls, is out this week from Random House. Over email, we talked about the challenges of writing from life as a second-generation immigrant, the task of writing about female friendship in a society that undervalues its importance, and how one wrestles with the complexity of one’s identity resulting from the complicated histories of our motherlands. We also got to talk about our shared homeland, the Cordillera Region of the Philippines, a place Daphne often revisits in her fiction. Many thanks to The Masters Review for graciously giving a home to our conversation! Read the full interview here.

writer in residence at the i-park foundation in connecticut

11/8/2021

I am currently a writer-in-residence at the I-Park Foundation, an artists' residency program in rural Connecticut. It's in a beautiful location, with numerous walking trails and art installations dotting the paths. I am grateful for this opportunity to be close to nature, working on my novel and a new short story in my little grey studio pictured above, while enjoying the company of some amazing fellow artists in residence at the dinner table. It is truly a precious gift after nearly two years spent in isolation due to the pandemic. More about the I-Park Foundation here.

"A Shared Stillness" in CLMP's Reading List for Filipino-American History Month 2021

10/25/2021

I am happy to share that "A Shared Stillness", my essay appearing in the Spring 2021 issue of Colorado Review, has been included in the Community of Literary Magazines and Press's (CLMP's) reading list for this year's Filipino-American History Month. One can scroll down the list to find the link to my essay about how I tapped into my family's history of joy and resilience by learning to tango in New Zealand. It's a piece that might be more appropriate for a Filipino-New Zealander history month (which has yet to exist, haha) but I am nonetheless honored to be in such great company. View the full list here.

"Inheritances" Nominated For Best Of The Net

10/13/2021

I am honored to share that my story, "Inheritances", was nominated for Best of the Net by Your Impossible Voice! You can read the story here and if you prefer to read it on your Kindle or in print, you can order your copies here.

Two Chavacano Poems By Francis C. Macansantos in Latest Issue Of Words Without Borders

10/6/2021

I am happy to share that two of my late father's poems written in his native tongue, Chavacano, appear in the latest issue of Words Without Borders, featuring writing from Southeast Asian creole languages. Entitled "Ojos del Marijada" (Eyes of the Wave) and "Nor Marcos" (Mr. Marcos), these two poems are accompanied with his own English translations, as well as audio recordings of my aunt, Dr. Sonia Alensub, reading the poems in the original Chavacano. Professor Stefanie Shamila Pillai also wrote a remarkable introduction to this issue, making the vital observation that "[F]or multilingual writers such as those represented in this issue, choosing to write in their heritage languages can be seen as an expression of agency, an active choice to communicate in a nondominant language rather than, for example, an official or national language (e.g., Malay, Filipino, Portuguese, or Chinese), or an international language like English." I would like to thank the Words Without Borders team for this wonderful opportunity to showcase my father's work in Chavacano, especially Nina Perrotta who initially reached out to me. This is a wonderful gift to us during my father's birth month.

interview with oyster river pages

9/5/2021

As part of Oyster River Pages's contributor showcase, I answered a few questions about my novel-in-progress, how I confront the rise of authoritarianism and the wounds of my nation's past in my work, and how the COVID pandemic has changed my relationship to art and writing. Many thanks to Jonathan Freeman-Coppadge and the rest of the Oyster River Pages team! You can read that interview here.

"The Life-Affirming Words Of Katherine Mansfield in a Time of Pandemic" Anthologized in Katherine Mansfield and Children (Edinburgh University Press, 2021)

8/21/2021

I am excited to share that my essay about drawing strength from Katherine Mansfield's life and work during the first few months of this pandemic has been selected for inclusion in the anthology, Katherine Mansfield and Children, which will be published by the Katherine Mansfield Society and Edinburgh University Press in October 2021. This is a longer version of an essay I wrote that appeared last year in New Zealand's The Pantograph Punch entitled "The Life-Affirming Words of Katherine Mansfield in a Time of Pandemic". I would like to thank Gerri Kimber and Todd Martin for selecting my work, as well as Hannah Newport-Watson for originally publishing it in The Pantograph Punch. Hardback copies can be pre-ordered from the Edinburgh University Press website and from Barnes and Noble.